Conflict of interest policy, new freshman year requirements on senate agenda
Ann Arvin, dean of research at Stanford, and Peter Michelson, chair of the Academic Council's Committee on Research, will present reports. Judy Goldstein, chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Standards and Policy, will lead a discussion of proposed freshman requirements.
The Faculty Senate on Thursday will discuss revising Stanford's Faculty Policy on Conflict of Commitment and Interest. This 18-page document presents and discusses circumstances that can create real or perceived conflicts of interest for faculty and establishes requirements for annual disclosures and certifications.
The senate also will discuss revising Stanford's Policy on Outside Activities by Members of the Academic Council, a six-page document that establishes limits on the amount of time that may be spent on outside consulting activities by Stanford faculty and describes procedures for implementing the policy.
Both documents, showing the proposed revisions, are available online as attachments to the senate's Feb. 23 agenda.
Ann Arvin, dean of research, and Peter Michelson, chair of the Academic Council's Committee on Research, will present reports on the policies.
The Freshman Year
The senate also will discuss proposed changes in freshman year requirements, which will be presented by Judy Goldstein, chair of the Academic Council's Committee on Undergraduate Standards and Policy.
The proposal, which is available online as a five-page attachment to the senate's agenda, is an outgrowth of the recent Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford University, which was released in January.
Under the proposal, freshmen in the Class of 2018 – and thereafter – would be required to take three classes: a "Thinking Matters" course, a Freshman Seminar and a writing course.
The proposal includes a timeline for implementing the new requirements; a description of the Freshman Year Requirements Governance Board; and descriptions of the aims, learning outcomes, structures and enrollment of the two new requirements ("Thinking Matters" courses and Freshman Seminars).
"All 'Thinking Matters' courses should be organized around questions or problems, and should demonstrate how university-level thinking could address, answer or solve them," the proposal says. "Rather than survey a field of study or introduce a discipline, courses should endeavor to expand and transform the ways that students think and thus exemplify the values of liberal education at a research university.
"Freshman Seminars provide students with the opportunity to work closely with Academic Council faculty in small classes organized around a wide range of topics that often reflects the faculty's research interest," the proposal says. "This setting creates ideal conditions for students to develop a personal relationship with faculty and to experience first-hand the possibilities for intellectual mentorship available at Stanford."
The Faculty Senate meeting will begin at 3:15 p.m. in Room 180 of the Law School. Discussion is limited to members of the senate, but members of the Stanford community may request to attend the meeting by contacting the Academic Secretary's Office at 723-4992 or Trish Del Pozzo at delpozzo@stanford.edu.
Share This Story